Naila and the Uprising

Quebec premiere followed by discussion with Zahia El-Masri, activist and executive member of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine. Presented in collaboration with Israeli Apartheid Week Montreal. The venue is wheelchair accessible. Childcare available upon request.

Naila and the Uprising

Chronicling the remarkable journey of activist Naila Ayesh, this inspiring doc traces the central role Palestinian women played in the First Intifada.

Synopsis

When a nation-wide uprising breaks out in 1987, a woman in Gaza must make a choice between love, family and freedom. Undaunted, she embraces all three, joining a clandestine network of women in a movement that forces the world to recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination for the first time.

The film revolves around the tragic and remarkable story of Naila Ayesh, an active student organizer in Gaza in the 1980s. Naila has spent years building the infrastructure for economic independence for women and self-sufficiency for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. We follow Naila and the women’s struggle through the end of the uprising and into negotiations with Israel, where Palestinians are recognized for the first time on the world stage. The women’s movement bore immediate fruit, with female activists taking their place on the Palestinian delegation, more female representation than any other party. But will the women be able to carry forward the vision of equality that their activism set in motion?

Cinema Politica is the largest campus and community based documentary screening network in the world. We are a Montreal-based non-profit media arts organization dedicated to the dissemination of independent political works by Canadian and international filmmakers.